The paper studies a fiscal policy instrument that can reduce fiscal distortions without affecting revenues,in a politically viable way. The instrument is a private contract (tax buyout), offered by the governmentto each citizen, whereby the citizen can choose to pay a fixed price in exchange for...

Whether observed differences in redistributive policies across countries are the result ofdifferences in social preferences or efficiency constraints is an important question that pavesthe debate about the optimality of welfare regimes. To shed new light on this question, weestimate labor supply...

By inverting Saez (2002)’s model of optimal income taxation, we characterize theredistributive preferences of the Irish government between 1987 and 2005. The (marginal)social welfare function revealed by this approach is consistently comparable over time andshow great stability despite...

Gender Based Taxation (GBT) satisfies Ramsey´s optimal criterion by taxing less the moreelastic labor supply of (married) women. This holds when different elasticities between menand women are taken as exogenous and primitive...

This paper revisits the normative properties of search-matching economies when homogeneous workers have concave utility functions and wages are bargained over. The optimal allocation of resources is characterized first when information is perfect and second when search effort is not observable....

This paper characterizes optimal income taxation when individuals respond along both the intensive and extensive margins. Individuals are heterogeneous across two dimensions: specifically, their skill and disutility of participation. Preferences over consumption and work effort can differ with...

We derive a general optimal income tax formula when individuals respond along both the intensive and extensive margins and when income effects can prevail. Individuals are heterogeneous across two dimensions: their skill and their disutility of participation. Preferences over consumption and...

Whether observed differences in redistributive policies across countries are the result of differences in social preferences or efficiency constraints is an important question that paves the debate about the optimality of welfare regimes. To shed new light on this question, we estimate labor...

This paper characterizes the optimal redistributive tax schedule in a matching unemployment framework with endogenous (voluntary) nonparticipation and (involuntary) unemployment. The optimal employment tax rate is given by an inverse employment elasticity rule. This rule depends on the global...

Recent microeconometric studies of taxpayer' responsiveness to taxation have shown that intensive margin labor supply and earnings elasticities typically are modest and sometimes equal to zero. However, a common view is that long-run responses might still be large since micro-estimates are...